lest we forget

[Front Row]

It was only 65 years ago.

 

I still have a hard time buying Japanese products.

[peepinmofo]

It was only 65 years ago.

 

I still have a hard time buying Japanese products.

 

Good call man...

 

to out armed forces!

[Randall]

It was only 65 years ago.

 

I still have a hard time buying Japanese products.

 

 

 

It is different country now as is Germany, but good point.

[tonorator]

i like my honda.

[spain]

I have been to Pearl Harbor and have seen the USS Arizona still sticking out of the water where all hands perished. The Japanese had no justification for the murder our soldiers in this distardly sneak attack. NONE! Of course, the Japs had no basis for their taking over Manchuria either. It was a horrible act that killed over 2000 American soldiers. We must never forget what happened on that day...

[TimC]

It was only 65 years ago.

 

I still have a hard time buying Japanese products.

 

 

 

Preach on, brother. My Great Uncle wasn't shot down by those Mitsubishis so I could own a Jap car.

[Chief Dick]

Been to the USS Arizona Memorial several times. and get chills every time I think about it.

 

Glad somone posted this today.

[spain]

Been to the USS Arizona Memorial several times. and get chills every time I think about it.

 

Glad somone posted this today.

 

Every American needs to go see it. You MUST take your kids to see it once they are old enough to understand. It is perhaps the most moving national monument that we have. Since we werent at war, the soldiers were taken completely by surprise that fateful Sunday morning. The soldiers on the Arizona never had a chance and their ship was sunk right where she was moored in the harbor.

 

One Caveat: After going out on the monument and reading the soldiers names on the wall who were killed on board, you can go watch a film on what happened. In the name of political correctness, the film basically says that the Japs had "no choice" but to attack us. I was absolutely in shock that they tried to justify an indefensible attack upon a country with whom with they werent at war. This attack was evil and wrong and as FDR said, "dastardly". I wrote my comments to that affect in their comments book as had several other people and expressed my concern to someone working there. He told me that they have ALOT of japanese visitors so they have to be sensitive to them. Perhaps we should be sensitive to the nazis at the Holocaust Museum by saying the Jews deserved it!

[spain]

I doubt we have anyone old enough to actually recall Pearl, but I would like to hear some of our "senior" Huddlers weigh in on their thoughts and memories....

[Chief Dick]

Every American needs to go see it. You MUST take your kids to see it once they are old enough to understand. It is perhaps the most moving national monument that we have. Since we werent at war, the soldiers were taken completely by surprise that fateful Sunday morning. The soldiers on the Arizona never had a chance and their ship was sunk right where she was moored in the harbor.

 

One Caveat: After going out on the monument and reading the soldiers names on the wall who were killed on board, you can go watch a film on what happened. In the name of political correctness, the film basically says that the Japs had "no choice" but to attack us. I was absolutely in shock that they tried to justify an indefensible attack upon a country with whom with they werent at war. This attack was evil and wrong and as FDR said, "dastardly". I wrote my comments to that affect in their comments book as had several other people and expressed my concern to someone working there. He told me that they have ALOT of japanese visitors so they have to be sensitive to them. Perhaps we should be sensitive to the nazis at the Holocaust Museum by saying the Jews deserved it!

 

 

What always gets me when I go out to the memorial is the list of men whose last wishes were to be entombed with the rest of their men. And from what I understand, their next of kin can take their ashes to the site to be scattered amongst their friends who died that day.

 

And I've always wondered about the Japanese tourists who go there and what they might be thinking. To them, Pearl Harbor could be said it was their countries greatest triumph from a military standpoint. Do they feel proud or saddened or ashamed they did that to us, and conseqeuntly many of their countrymen died as a result of this action.

[spain]

And I've always wondered about the Japanese tourists who go there and what they might be thinking. To them, Pearl Harbor could be said it was their countries greatest triumph from a military standpoint. Do they feel proud or saddened or ashamed they did that to us, and conseqeuntly many of their countrymen died as a result of this action.

 

I wonder if they connect the dots between Pearl Harbor and Nagasaki/Hiroshima?

[TimC]

The Japanese in WWII always felt Americans were sub-human compared to them. At best, they only would've enslaved us if we won.

[cliaz]

I was getting my hair cut last year and there was an old dude in there with a hat on that said "I survived Pearl Harbor"

 

I talked with that man for 2 hours.

[spain]

The Japanese in WWII always felt Americans were sub-human compared to them.

 

Those racist bastages still do...

[TimC]

Those racist bastages still do...

 

 

The only reason they still deal with us is because they love the money we send them when we buy their cars and TV's. They couldn't defeat us militarily, but they will be able to conquer us economically in the not too distant future.

 

Those bastages. We should cut off all metal and oil shipments to them immediately.

Edited December 7, 2006 by TimC

[SeductiveNun]

 

Here's a pretty good article about the the survivors of Pearl Harbor. It's kind of long, but linking to it would require you to register with the Pioneer Press to read it.

 

Pearl Harbor survivors meet for last time

JAYMES SONG

Associated Press

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - With their number quickly dwindling, survivors of Pearl Harbor will gather Thursday one last time to honor those killed by the Japanese 65 years ago, and to mark a day that lives in infamy.

 

This will be their last visit to this watery grave to share stories, exchange smiles, find peace and salute their fallen friends. This, they say, will be their final farewell.

 

"This will be one to remember," said Mal Middlesworth, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. "It's going to be something that we'll cherish forever."

 

The survivors have met here every five years for four decades, but they're now in their 80s or 90s and are not counting on a 70th reunion. They have made every effort to report for one final roll call.

 

"We're like the dodo bird. We're almost extinct," said Middlesworth, now an 83-year-old retiree from Upland, Calif., but then - on Dec. 7, 1941 - an 18-year-old Marine on the USS San Francisco.

 

Nearly 500 survivors from across the nation were expected to make the trip to Hawaii, bringing with them 1,300 family members, numerous wheelchairs and too many haunting memories.

 

Memories of a shocking, two-hour aerial raid that destroyed or heavily damaged 21 ships and 320 aircraft, that killed 2,390 people and wounded 1,178 others, that plunged the United States into World War II and set in motion the events that led to atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

"I suspect not many people have thought about this, but we're witnessing history," said Daniel Martinez, chief historian at the USS Arizona Memorial. "We are seeing the passing of a generation."

 

---

 

The attack may have occurred 65 years ago, but survivors say they can still hear the explosions, smell the burning flesh, taste the sea water and hear the cries.

 

"The younger ones were crying, 'Mom! Mom! Mom!'" said Edward Chun, who witnessed the attack from the Ten-Ten dock, just a couple hundred yards away from Battleship Row.

 

Chun, 83, had just begun his workday as a civilian pipe fitter when he was thrust into assisting in everything from spraying water on the ships to aiding casualties.

 

"From the time the first bomb dropped and for the next 15 minutes, it was complete chaos," he said. "Nobody knew what was going on. Everybody was running around like a chicken with their head cut off."

 

Chun saw the Oklahoma and West Virginia torpedoed by Japanese aircraft. He heard the tapping of sailors trapped in the hulls of sunken ships. He escaped death when Ten-Ten was strafed, leaving behind dead and wounded.

 

"How I never got hit, I don't know," said Chun, who was later drafted and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. "I'll tell you a secret: When your number comes up, you're going to go. Well, every morning I get up, I change my number."

 

Everett Hyland doesn't know how he stayed alive when almost everyone around him didn't. He was radioman aboard the Pennsylvania, which was in Dry Dock No. 1, and was helping transport ammunition to the anti-aircraft gun when a bomb exploded.

 

Badly burned, Hyland regained consciousness 18 days later, on Christmas night. During that time, his older brother visited.

 

"The only way he knew it was me was the tag on my toe," Hyland said. "He (later) told me we looked like roast turkeys lined up."

 

Today, scar tissue covers most of his arms and legs.

 

"I got a quick facial out of it. I used to be a freckled-faced kid," he said. "I don't have any lips. They could fix faces, but they couldn't build any lips."

 

And he was lucky.

 

Many of the dead were teenage sailors and Marines away from home for the first time. They died before they had an opportunity to get married, have children, build lives.

 

Four in five servicemen on the USS Arizona - 1,177 in all - did not survive the day. It was the greatest loss of life of any ship in U.S. naval history. They remain entombed in the battleship's sunken hull, which still seeps oil every few seconds, leaving a colorful sheen on the harbor water.

 

The survivors say they have more than horrific memories to offer. "Remember Pearl Harbor" is just the first half of the association's motto; the rest is "Keep America alert."

 

Martinez said many Pearl Harbor survivors were disheartened by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, "as if they had not done their job hard enough."

 

Once again, it seemed that America had been caught sleeping. Interest in Pearl Harbor and its aging survivors surged. The old soldiers are much in demand - to sign autographs, walk in parades, speak to classrooms and pose for pictures. Visits to the USS Arizona Memorial are at record levels.

 

Not that everyone sees similarities between the two attacks. "There is no comparison," Hyland said. "That was terrorists killing a pile of civilians. Here, you had professional fighters versus professional fighters. Two different things."

 

There are those who are unable to forgive the Japanese, But others testify to the power of reconciliation.

 

"There are some guys that are going to die with hate in their heart. I don't have in me any hatred in my heart," said 87-year-old survivor Lee Soucy, of Plainview, Texas. "They were doing their job just like we were."

 

Hyland, who was almost killed in the attack, married a woman from Japan. They met at the 50th Pearl Harbor anniversary and wed the following year.

 

"I got over it a long time ago," he said.

 

---

 

Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who dubbed Americans who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II "the greatest generation," agreed to be keynote speaker for Thursday's ceremony. A moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. was to mark the time when the attack began.

 

Martinez, the USS Arizona historian, likened it to another reunion 68 years ago - the final gathering of Civil War veterans in Gettysburg, Pa., when aging warriors in blue and gray shook hands and shared war stories. In 1938, as in 2006, the nation faced an uncertain future in a world gripped by conflict.

 

"The passing of that generation had its moment and we're going to have ours," he said.

 

But some veterans don't believe, or refuse to accept, that this will be the last major gathering.

 

"They claimed the 60th was going to be the last one. Now they have the 65th. When they have the 70th, then they'll be claiming, 'This will be the last one,'" Hyland said. "They've been crying wolf too many times."

 

Hyland does accept the fact that their numbers are falling fast.

 

"We all have our turn and our turn is getting closer," he said.

 

But until then, they are drawn to Pearl Harbor, and to each other. Military historian Douglas Smith, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., says they are proud of their service and eager to return "to their glory days," but most of all they revel in the bonds they formed long ago, when they were young.

 

The bond is so strong that some ask to have their ashes interred inside the Arizona, laid to rest with shipmates who were not so fortunate as to survive Dec. 7, 1941.

 

"They're coming home," Middlesworth said. "They feel they're coming home."

[Retrograde assault]

A couple interesting reads, one by Hector Bywater, "The Great Pacific War A history of the American-Japanese Campaign of 1931-1933", Published in 1925.

 

"Showdown, Why China wants war with the US". Jed Babbin, Ed Timberlake

China is now developing a blue water navy, what does that portend?

 

The World War II era vet, I don't think we will ever see their like again.

[spain]

The World War II era vet, I don't think we will ever see their like again.

 

agreed

[TimC]

The World War II era vet, I don't think we will ever see their like again.

 

 

That's the truth. The greatest generation ever, by far. All of them. We'll never see that type of sacrifice across the board again.

[spain]

I guess we forgot. We would rather wax on all day about how evil our countrys military is and how much harm they do around the world, then give them respect like we used to. I am sickened by the lack of respect our military gets these days. Especially by our media and the left who try to blow out of proportion anything they might do wrong, while basically ignoring the misdeeds of our enemies. Well, I for one support our troops both then and now!

[skins]

Yer schtick is SUPER, Spain! Keep it up.

[I Like Soup]

The World War II era vet, I don't think we will ever see their like again.

 

Agreed.

 

[Ursa Majoris]

Every American needs to go see it. You MUST take your kids to see it once they are old enough to understand. It is perhaps the most moving national monument that we have. Since we werent at war, the soldiers were taken completely by surprise that fateful Sunday morning. The soldiers on the Arizona never had a chance and their ship was sunk right where she was moored in the harbor.

 

One Caveat: After going out on the monument and reading the soldiers names on the wall who were killed on board, you can go watch a film on what happened. In the name of political correctness, the film basically says that the Japs had "no choice" but to attack us. I was absolutely in shock that they tried to justify an indefensible attack upon a country with whom with they werent at war. This attack was evil and wrong and as FDR said, "dastardly". I wrote my comments to that affect in their comments book as had several other people and expressed my concern to someone working there. He told me that they have ALOT of japanese visitors so they have to be sensitive to them. Perhaps we should be sensitive to the nazis at the Holocaust Museum by saying the Jews deserved it!

 

I've been twice - 1999 and 2000 - so they must have changed the film. It was shown before the short boat ride to the USS Arizona and I recall it was most moving without any PCness.

 

Side note - the exhibition on the dock changed between 1999 and 2000. In '99 there was a gut-wrenching piece about some sailors trapped inside the hull of one of the sunken ships whose knocking could be heard for days while the people topside couldn't get to them. The knocking stopped....

 

That piece had gone in 2000, or at least, I couldn't find it. Maybe it offended some people's sensibilities.

 

I wonder if they connect the dots between Pearl Harbor and Nagasaki/Hiroshima?

 

 

If they didn't, they should. Ye reap what ye sow. That's a lesson that should have been learned over and over again.

The Japanese in WWII always felt Americans were sub-human compared to them. At best, they only would've enslaved us if we won.

 

Odd how at that time there were TWO races claiming to be the master race. The Japanese felt that everyone was inferior to them, including other Asians. I strongly believe that hasn't changed at all.

 

Another side note - did you know that all the sunken ships, less the Arizona, were floated and returned to duty within two years? Now there's a phenomenal testament to engineering if ever I heard one.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Ursa Majoris

[whomper]

I doubt we have anyone old enough to actually recall Pearl, but I would like to hear some of our "senior" Huddlers weigh in on their thoughts and memories....

 

 

 

I havent seen Seminoles much lately but maybe he can chime in at some point..

[yo mama]

i like my honda.

 

That's because you're a traitor. A real American drives Toyota.